"Welcome to My Family" nezz's Profile

Even in our sleepy little town of Perth which is quite remote from the rest of the world we still get to host VT meets. The most recent was to welcome Shirene Appleseed81.
She was returning to Perth for a second visit. Perth put on it's best weather for our meet at the The Lucky Shag. We even managed to get a photo for jumping Norman in front of the Bell Tower. Jumping in Perth

How crazy were we..? It was a day for good food, great wine & loads of VT chat.
Also present were: Aussirose . Buffybird and 4XL.

Amy & I at Street Cafe Sanur

Some of the best experiences a child can have is to learn about other countries and the people that live in them. We have always included our two children in our travels & have never regretted it. We feel we've had a better holiday because it has been a family holiday.

Some of the places we have travelled as a family include:

Langkawi, Malaysia in 1999....we stayed at the Holiday Inn and even at 2 & a half my daughter Amy still remembers having noodle soup for our first breakfast. Both my children loved the crocodile farm & the motorbike we hired for the last few days. The thing I remember most is that after the first day the staff from the hotel would call out Amy's name as they drove past us in the street. This was the first true taste of travelling with children in S.E.Asia.

Phuket, Thailand in 2000
It was the year of the second Ozzie Olympics so there were great deals to be had leaving the country. We stayed at The Kamala Bay Terrace mainly because their deluxe family rooms allowed the 2 children to be in with us. We knew that it was 25 mins away from the shopping & restaurants & night-life of Patong but with children we thought it best to enjoy the Thai experience minus the sleaze. That was when we first fell in love with the village feel of Kamala. This is why we are heading here for the third time in 2009. (sadly our first hotel was destroyed in the 2004 tsunami.)

Bali, Indonesia in 2001,2003,2007 and again in 2010
There is no doubt that this is our favourite overseas holiday destination. Our first time (pre children ) was in 1987 & the second time we had left Oz. My hubby Neil & I went to Bali, Sanur to be exact along with My Mum , Dad & 16 yr old brother. Yes it was a culture shock but it also made us fall in love with this Island of the Gods. Since then we have returned like so many others, intoxicated by the frangipani, incense & spices it is great that it is Perth's nearest overseas holiday isle. We are so very fortunate that budget airlines fly out of Perth via Bali so we can afford to go whenever we can .

Penang and Singapore in 2004
Parkroyal Penang Hotel

Kota Kinabalu in Borneo , Johor Bahru and Singapore with Amy in 2005
The most memorable trip for our time at The Magellan Sutera Harbour...stilt to this day the best Hotel we have ever stayed in. Oh yeah I can't forget to mention the Orangutans.

Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Phuket & Singapore in 2006
Yes I know the itinerary sounded huge but really it was a great holiday and even though I got sick I still cannot believe how many places we got to go to & how cheap this holiday was. Somehow it also gave me the confidence to book more things on-line for myself. It proves you don't always need a travel agent.

Melbourne, Australia in October 2008
A Family wedding and Amy was bridesmaid.

and in January 2009 we travelled to Phuket & Singapore
Travelling for the first time with another family---also 2 adults + 2 children
It was their first time abroad so hopefully we shared some of the magic of Thailand with them. I'm sure we did

Now in 2010 I will fulfil a life long dream to visit Halong Bay...while also seeinh Hanoi, Bangkok & Kuala Lumpur

My new VT friends

This was my first VT meeting, it was a great day for a picnic and a swim at the lovely Rockingham foreshore.

MY FIRST VIRTUAL ATTENDANCE
WELL IT LOOKS LIKE I HAD A GREAT TIME IN DARWIN AT THE VT 2008 MEET. MANY THANKS TO KIWI WHO TOOK GREAT CARE OF ME . FOR A LOOK AT WHAT I GOT UP TO HERE'S THE LINK
DARWIN VT MEET
2008

AND HERE'S A LINK TO HER WONDERFUL TRAVELOGUES.

*VT SURVIVOR MEET 2008 BY KIWI

And one to the Perth VT Meet 2007 *PERTH VT MEET 2007*

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SHIRENE, AMY & I

THE WONDERFUL THING ABOUT VT IS THAT IT'S NOT ALWAYS VIRTUAL TRAVELLING THAT WE DO. EVERY NOW AND THEN WE ACTUALLY DO GET TO TRAVEL AND BECAUSE OF VT I HAVE MADE SOME GREAT VT FRIENDS OVER THE YEARS. THIS JANUARY WE TRAVELLED TO PHUKET AND ON OUR WAY BACK TO OZ WE HAD 2 NIGHTS IN SINGAPORE. WE CAUGHT UP WITH SHIRENE (APPLESEED81) . WE HAD SOME TERRIFIC CRABS , YUMMY DRINKS & HEAPS OF CHATTING. NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR VT & OF COURSE AUSSIROSE WHO INTRODUCED US TO SHIRENE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

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I have been extremely slack putting up the photos of our 2009 Phuket/Singapore holiday. Here is a link to some photos I have shutterfly

Shutterfly-phuket

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His tattoo and the coffin outside the shop

He absolutely hates having his photo taken . Maybe it's because I took so many when he was little . But now he's a teenager it's almost impossible to get him in any photo. I usually have to pay him money for a decent photo . He's 17 follows the Docker's in footy & Chelsea in Soccer , he also likes basketball plus the usual music that makes no sense to parents, wrestling on Foxtel & the Simpson's . He has successfully completed his year 12 tee and wants to go to Uni. He just got his first tattoo on our recent holiday in Bali at Sanur Ink .

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Amy and a shop owner in Sanur

My daughter loves the beach. She also loves to run up and down the sand hills. One Xmas all she wanted was surfing lessons. She completed a six week course and has passed level 2 . She has completed her bronze and silver composite medals in ballroom dancing and received honours. Her greatest love is to sing and is now having private voice lessons she passed her preparatory singing exam with honours and recently got a credit with her grade one exam. She also loves any animal on this earth and finally got her wish to swim with dolphins in Singapore Jan 2009. She had a great day with all the animals at the Bali Zoo in 2010 . Luckily for the moment at least she still lets me take her photo.

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SUNSET IN PHUKET AFTER A DAY OF SAILING

This is why I love to travel. It gives you the time to relax & do the little things in life just for yourself. I love to sit & watch the sun set. At home life is all about the rush of work, family & other commitments. On holiday you get to appreciate the beauty of nature as it happens right in front of you. I also love to keep a travel diary as this not only keeps my holiday memories alive but it also serves as a source of information for all my VT pages

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A DAY OUT IN THE SOUND

Sometimes it's easy to miss the local tourist attractions where you live. One of the wonderful things about Perth is there are so many great spots for boating. This is Warnbro Sound which on a calm day is great fun for us to get out on the Wake snake. Just recently My daughter & her friends were one this pull along mini banana boat when a family of dolphins came along side them to play. In many places people pay to swim dolphins this day our girls got to do it for free.

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